If you want to read about the depressing state of telecom in the US then please click on Bells dig in to dominate high-speed Internet Realm. The ILECs are killing competition in the country and the government is going along as a willing accomplice. The question remains, is it fair to force the Bells to share fiber that they go through great expense to lay down. I am beginning to think more and more that the answer is 100% yes. the Bells are still monopolies in so much as they are still leveraging trillions of dollars in aggregate legacy monopoly service dollars. Sure there is competition now (Minus MCI and AT&T) but there isnt much competition and it is extremely expensive to pull customers away from entrenched carriers. Add to that the CLEC implosion which the Bells fueled in a number of ways and we see a world where the consumer good is being disregarded so that a few companies can make maximal profit.Perhaps I need to be more optimistic about power line, WiMAX and cable broadband deliver solutions but for now, I am very concerned about broadband accessibility and the inability for consumers to have real competition.Here is an excerpt of the article. It is very well written and illuminating.

If you want to read about the depressing state of telecom in the US then please click on Bells dig in to dominate high-speed Internet Realm. The ILECs are killing competition in the country and the government is going along as a willing accomplice. The question remains, is it fair to force the Bells to share fiber that they go through great expense to lay down. I am beginning to think more and more that the answer is 100% yes. the Bells are still monopolies in so much as they are still leveraging trillions of dollars in aggregate legacy monopoly service dollars. Sure there is competition now (Minus MCI and AT&T) but there isnt much competition and it is extremely expensive to pull customers away from entrenched carriers. Add to that the CLEC implosion which the Bells fueled in a number of ways and we see a world where the consumer good is being disregarded so that a few companies can make maximal profit.Perhaps I need to be more optimistic about power line, WiMAX and cable broadband deliver solutions but for now, I am very concerned about broadband accessibility and the inability for consumers to have real competition.Here is an excerpt of the article. It is very well written and illuminating.